Throwback Thursday Review: 'The Fast and the Furious'

Sorry for the delayed review but this week's Throwback Thursday Review is over The Fast and the Furious and I realize it makes absolutely no sense why I would be reviewing this in December. However, there's a lot of major blockbusters coming out next year including Fast 8 (The Fate of the Furious) and I'm trying to review a majority, if not all, of their predecessors and figured I could cram in the first few Fast & Furious films in the slow weeks of December. Next week I will be reviewing West Side Story to coincide with La La Land's minuscule limited release that weekend, I managed to get passes to a screening on December 13th that I'm absolutely thrilled to be attending and will get my thoughts on the film out on the internet ASAP because La La Land is surprisingly one of the films I've been most excited for this year. Reviews you can expect for the remainder of the year include Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (Sorry for the delay on this one), Rules Don't Apply, Miss Sloane, La La Land, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Collateral Beauty, Passengers, Sing, Assassin's Creed, Fences, and Throwback Thursday Reviews over West Side Story, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Fast & Furious.

'The Fast and the Furious' Review

In The Fast & the Furious, Los Angeles police officer Bryan O'Connor must go undercover in the street racing arena to discover the culprits responsible for a series of big-rig heists. Rob Cohen directs and had to be somewhat aware of how cheesy this blockbuster is because he let it persist among the silly screenplay, awful acting, and hip-hop heavy soundtrack interchangeable with a racing video game like Need For Speed or Grand Theft Auto.

Director of photography Ericson Core does a great job capturing the cars as they speed away but Cohen's decision to utilize slow motion and shaky cam is outright laughable in some moments, with neither really necessary for the dramatic or emotional impact intended. Also, The Fast & the Furious has not aged well because a lot of the pump and circumstance comes across as a little outlandish and the 2000's sheeny filter covering it all certainly didn't help.

BT offers a pop synth heavy score that sometimes makes for decent accompaniment to ongoing events and races but other times feels a tad ill suited and almost inappropriate bursting in after a tense moment, it's really not at all surprising to see that he actually later went on to work on the soundtrack for Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The screenplay penned up by Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, and to my surprise David Ayer, based on magazine article "Racer X", has some of the campiest dialogue I've ever heard and spotlights a nonsense story at its core.

The performances are almost a joke as Vin Diesel delivers dialogue with a steely gaze as Dominic Torretto, Paul Walker is burdened to carry the heavy handed emotional arcs as Bryan O'Connor but honestly can't handle it as he simply can't act (at least not decently yet). Chad Lindberg plays a squeamish wimp, Johnny Stone and Matt Schulze are the muscle and Michelle Rodriguez, Jordan Brewster, and a host of street race babes are the pin-up sex appeal. Rick Yune makes an okay villain that has at least one good interrogation scene but gets swallowed up in the cheese of the franchise.

The Fast & the Furious is loud, proud, and kind of obnoxious, making it synonymous with street cars and that audience but it's somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Undoubtedly, The Fast & the Furious is one of the cheesiest entries in the franchise and that's probably why many people like it but I'm personally more into the action-heavy later installments that embrace the over the top outrageousness so the original pales in comparison. The high octane street races and heists are amusing, but nothing compared to what the franchise's future has to offer in terms of upping the ante of ridiculous stunts involving Diesel & diesel.

Film Assessment: D+